Grain Belt Express Clean Line LLC, an affiliate of Clean Line Energy Partners LLC, has received public-utility status from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) and will now be subject to the jurisdiction of the IURC.

The Grain Belt Express Clean Line is a 700-mile, overhead DC transmission line that will deliver 3.5 GW of wind power from Kansas to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and states farther east. The project will originate in western Kansas and travel east, where it will interconnect at a substation near Sullivan, Ind. Utility status in Indiana allows Grain Belt Express to operate, manage and maintain electric transmission facilities in the state.

According to Clean Line, the $2 billion transmission line project is expected to take several years to fully permit and construct, and could begin commercial operations as early as 2018.

Months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its Clean Power Plan, which will create new regulations for existing power plants, the agency says it has received loads of feedback to consider.